Chapter 29: Enduring Utter Misery

Ma Yangxia stared at the unflappable Chen Fan, a glimmer of amusement flashing in his eyes. Initially, he had dismissed Chen Fan as nothing more than a common con artist. However, it now appeared that even if Chen Fan were a fraud, such composure proved he was a man of substance.

Upon hearing Ma's remark, Chen Fan did not show the slightest discomfort. He patted the tense girl with the blonde hair beside him. "Don't be afraid. This is very easy to resolve," Chen Fan said calmly.

Zhao Chenxi nodded repeatedly.

"I would like to know, how exactly do you intend to resolve it?" Ma Yangxia asked, his voice deep and serious.

"It is quite simple: terminate the spirit." Chen Fan raised an eyebrow. "The Pixiu is meant to swallow water, signifying the accumulation of wealth. But if the intent behind this 'water-swallowing' is corrupted, it transforms into 'swallowing malevolence.' Your auction house may hold steady in the short term, but over time, the baleful energy will concentrate."

"The wealth-gathering site will turn into a site for gathering yin energy. When yin energy gathers, the restless dead return." Chen Fan said flatly, "For the past few days, you have constantly felt like someone was following you, haven't you? Yet, no matter what you do, you cannot find out who it is."

Ma Yangxia frowned. Under normal circumstances, he would have assumed the person following him was Chen Fan. But he felt something was wrong, especially in the dead of night.

"If you truly have a way to fix this, I will give you the hundred million," Ma Yangxia said heavily.

Chen Fan chuckled. "Simple. When you killed that feng shui master in the past, you already contaminated the feng shui formation. At first, it may have been just a drop of blood splashing into the water feature—seemingly insignificant. But because that drop of blood exists, the Pixiu swallows baleful yin energy along with the wealth-water."

"Accumulated over time, the wealth-water has reached its limit, and the baleful energy has reached a fixed threshold. Furthermore, because the Pixiu only takes in and never releases, the souls that die here are trapped. No matter how virtuous those souls were in life, under the influence of this baleful energy, they become twisted and terrifying, transforming into vengeful spirits."

Chen Fan glanced at Ma Yangxia, his tone indifferent. "Not to mention, you were the one who killed him with your own hands, preventing his soul from returning to its home."

Hearing mention of ghosts and baleful energies, Zhao Chenxi’s face turned deathly pale. The blonde girl huddled closer to Chen Fan for a sense of security.

"Master Chen, do you mean..." Ma Yangxia said, his voice grave, "that this thing which should have died long ago is haunting my business?"

"Not just your business. You will suffer as well."

Chen Fan continued coolly, "You killed him yourself, so naturally, he wants revenge. And because he was a feng shui master who has turned into a vengeful spirit, he has many ways to deal with you. The reason he hasn't struck yet is that he needs more time. If a few more accidents happen in this auction house, he will truly become a full-fledged vengeful spirit."

Song Hong wanted to intervene; after all, what Chen Fan was saying was truly too bizarre. But Ma Yangxia said in a low voice, "Fine. Then I want to see with my own eyes how you terminate this vengeful spirit."

"Simple." Chen Fan smiled faintly. "But the condition is that I want that nameless finger guard."

"Boss Ma, this isn't according to the rules..." Song Hong reminded him.

Ma Yangxia frowned. "My rules are the rules! Go and bring that nameless finger guard to Mr. Chen at once."

"Yes." Song Hong immediately complied, turned, and walked out.

Jiang Xiao and the others, who had been watching the stairwell, saw Song Hong hurry down, then quickly take away the tray holding the nameless finger guard. Seeing Song Hong head back upstairs escorted by several security guards, Jiang Yueshan could hardly believe it.

"This? Could it be that the asset verification was successful?"

Jiang Xiao was trembling all over. Making Chen Fan produce a hundred million was more painful to her than death! *It must... it must have been given by Fu Xueyue!* Jiang Xiao shouted inwardly with excitement.

Chen Fan, sitting there drinking an iced cola, looked at the Yao'an iron finger guard that Song Hong brought on the tray, a trace of a smile at the corner of his mouth. He stepped forward and slid the half-knuckle-duster style piece onto the index and middle fingers of his left hand.

A magical artifact! No, it should be called a "Slayer of Immortals" weapon!

"Master Chen, when can you..." Before Ma Yangxia could finish his question, Chen Fan interrupted him.

"Now."

The next second, Chen Fan raised his hand and formed a seal. "Across the heavens and earth, there is nowhere to hide. Come out!"

As his voice fell, a hideous, translucent shadow emerged from the ground.

Those who had not opened their "Yin-Yang Eyes" could not see the soul about to turn into a vengeful spirit. However, they could feel it; the temperature in the surrounding area suddenly plummeted by dozens of degrees! The blonde girl rubbed her arms in the cold, looking around in terror.

Ma Yangxia frowned, and Song Hong hurriedly said, "Boss Ma, the air conditioning isn't broken."

Chen Fan looked at the hideous ghost shadow before him; its facial features were visible. He snapped his fingers, and the ghost shadow gradually became fully visible to everyone present.

"This! This!" Song Hong was stunned. The blonde girl curled into a ball on the sofa in fright.

"Boss Ma, is this the feng shui master you killed?" Chen Fan raised an eyebrow.

Ma Yangxia did not answer; instead, he gathered all his strength and lunged at the ghost shadow. A straight punch passed right through the ghost’s head. He looked shocked and quickly pulled his hand back. Frost had already formed on Ma Yangxia's hand!

"It is..." Ma Yangxia’s voice trembled with rage. "It is him! He killed my beloved wife ten years ago! He deserves to die! He deserves to die!"

The ghost’s head, having been pierced, returned to its original state. It turned its head 180 degrees and stared fixedly at Ma Yangxia.

"You are the one who deserves to die...!" A hoarse voice emanated from the ghost. "I should have killed you first... then I could have taken your money without anyone knowing, and I wouldn't have been discovered by that damned woman! Ah! Ah! When I killed her, I did it too quickly! I let her die too easily! I should have tortured her slowly! Tortured her slowly! Without even leaving her soul behind!"

Ma Yangxia’s knuckles turned white from gripping his fists. He growled, "Master Chen! Beyond killing it, is there any way to make it suffer endlessly?"